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The kiwi dollar took a short sharp dive overnight as US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen delivered her highly anticipated speech of the state of the US economy from the central bankers conference in Jackson Hole Wyoming.

After trading as high as US73.35c on Thursday the kiwi was at US72.38c this morning - down about half a cent on yesterday aftrenoon.

Markets have been watching closely for signs the Fed is ready to start raising US interest rates, a move that would lift the US dollar and bring the kiwi down.

Yellen stopped short of saying when rates would rise but she was upbeat on the US outlook and her speech did enough to strengthen market perceptions that long promised rate hikes are coming - most likely in December but possibly as soon as September.

Yellen said the economy was "nearing" the Fed's goals of full employment and stable prices.

"Based on this economic outlook, the FOMC continues to anticipate that gradual increases in the federal funds rate will be appropriate over time to achieve and sustain employment and inflation near our statutory objectives."

That statement did enough to meet the expectations that the market had built in around the speech - but only just.

Without any specific timetable for rate hikes many remain sceptical about the certainty of hikes.

The US central bank lifted the rate for the first time in almost a decade last December - to 0.5 per cent - and outlined plans for a series of hikes throughout 2016.

See live rates for the NZ-US $ below. Click for more information:

But market turmoil early in the year and other global events like the Brexit vote in the UK have seen them stalled.